The Voice
by RayvnAshes2
Summary: While Hiccup is in a coma after defeating the Red Death, the villagers have the opportunity to watch How to Train Your Dragon. Why does this mysterious voice want them to watch it? Does he have ulterior motives? Rated T for language and Snotlout's stupidity. 'HIATUS'
1. What is this?

**Disclaimer: I don't own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and I never will. Or Rise of the Guardians (you'll see why this one is included), for that matter.  
**

**Summary: Well, the village of Berk gets the opportunity to watch How to Train Your Dragon while Hiccup is still in a coma after defeating the Red Death. Hiccup may or may not (I haven't decided) witness the entire thing in an out of body experience. We shall see.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Astrid, I get it!" Gobber shouted in exasperation, throwing his hand and stump in the air. "Yer' worried about Hiccup. We all are."

Astrid flinched, recalling just how many times she'd asked Hiccup's mentor how he was doing.

Gobber sighed, glancing at the blonde girl and running his flesh hand through his beard. To be fair, she had reason to be concerned. Hiccup's condition had been very unstable early on in his recovery, and he'd nearly been killed by the fever that had seeped in after losing his leg. The possibility of the wound getting infected had terrified all of them.

The only reason the lad had survived, Gothi had claimed, was because the dragons had brought him back to the village (to her, specifically, as the healer and medicine woman) as fast as they could. After a day of warming up under piles of blankets, the fever had broken.

When it came time to take care of his leg, however…his screams and gasps of pain had every villager who heard them in tears, tough and prideful vikings or not.

It had been three months since Hiccup had fallen into the sleep, and they were worried that he would never open his eyes again. He'd gotten even skinnier than he was previously (which was saying something), too, because it was difficult giving him enough nutrition.

* * *

Ah, Berk. This charming little village, full of not so charming and not so little Vikings, was in the process of trying to acclimate the dragons to their way of life. At this point, most of them despaired, but they didn't want to let down the brave young man who'd saved them from the monster they had started referring to as the Red Death. The fact that the beast was green didn't matter, it was the blood of innocent people (and dragons) spilled by the beast that earned it its name.

However, it was difficult suddenly being surrounded by the dragons that they'd been fighting for their entire lives. There were fights popping up all around the island, usually between two or more dragons. The villagers would've gotten involved, but again, they didn't want to let down the Chief's son by ruining the tentative peace that had fallen over the island.

Now if only Hiccup would wake up.

* * *

The next morning, as the villagers met in the Mead Hall for breakfast, something unexpected happened.

A bright flash blinded the vikings temporarily, and they all grabbed their weapons or wrapped their arms around their families in an attempt to protect them from whatever it was.

Moments later, a shout from Astrid had them all glancing at something on the large wall. A large dark gray surface had appeared, the likes of which no one had ever seen before.

"What is this?" Astrid whispered, gently touching the odd material in confusion and curiosity. The old her would've destroyed it with her axe, but since the flight with Hiccup and Toothless she had realized that not everything new and strange was bad.

"This is called a movie screen." A voice erupted in answer. Astrid shouted in surprise, jumping away from the object as she quickly looked around, searching for anyone unfamiliar. "My dear girl, I am not in the room with you."

"WHO ARE YOU?" Stoick boomed, uncertainly.

"My name…I am called 'Manny' by those I consider friends." The voice, which Astrid now identified as male, announced. His voice had a sort of dreamy quality, and it sounded almost as if he was half asleep, or at least far away. Nonetheless, they could hear him clearly.

"Manny." Stoick muttered, eyebrows raising before he sighed with a shake of his head. "Fine. I don't suppose you could tell us where you are?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." The voice, Manny, answered. "However, I can tell you that I am not there on Berk. I am not of Earth." Unknown to the voice, that last sentence would inspire the belief of aliens from space in the future, but that's irrelevant.

"Then how are we hearing you?" Fishlegs asked, confused.

"Magic." Manny answered. Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Magic?!" Snotlout scoffed, sneering as he tried to pinpoint the voice, regardless of the fact that they'd been told Manny wasn't present. "Yeah right."

"Ah, Snotlout." Manny seemed almost _displeased_. "You are an irritating one."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Snotlout challenged.

"Oh, I cannot hurt you." Manny answered. "My job is to look after the children of the world, and that includes you. I can, however, let you know an interesting little tidbit about the future."

A majority of the hall froze in shock. The future?

"Do I become chief?" Snotlout asked enthusiastically.

"No." the voice was blunt, and Snotlout and Spitelout's shoulders snagged in disappointment. "However, what I _can_ tell you is that you end up shorter than your cousin."

"What?" Snotlout shouted, outraged. Hiccup was a shrimp! No way would the scrawny boy end up outgrowing him! It didn't matter if he'd slayed the Red Death…

"Yes." Manny confirmed. "Out of you teenagers, he is the tallest."

Stoick and the others' had shocked expressions. Hiccup, the smallest viking besides the young children, ended up being taller than even Fishlegs?

"Anyway," Manny continued, sensing that no one quite had anything to say to that. "This screen is going to show you what is called a movie. I suppose you could see it as moving…paintings… that tell a story. There will also be sound to go with it."

"A…_movie_?" Ruffnut repeated, testing out the unfamiliar word. "Wait, a story? Is it going to be bloody?!" Her eyes and Tuffnut's grew wide in excitement.

"No. There are some dangerous scenes, however." Manny sounded resigned to the fact that the twins were violent little brats, not that he would ever say it. "The story is about Hiccup."

"Wait a minute…" Astrid muttered. "You said something about the future earlier. Has whatever we're going to see already happened, or what is _going _to happen?"

"Ah, very good." Manny seemed pleased. "This movie is about events that already happened. There may be a second one afterwards about the future, however."

"But what is the 'movie' about?" Fishlegs asked quietly.

"Why, your very own Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, of course." Manny seemed surprised that it wasn't obvious.

"Wait, what?" Snotlout cried. Why did Hiccup always get the attention?

"Without further ado…" Manny announced, ignoring the brat. "How to Train Your Dragon!"

People gasped as most of the torches in the hall went out, and the screen lit up…

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**Please review!**

**I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this, but the next should be up by Wednesday at the latest. :)**


	2. I'll Be the First!

**Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon or Rise of the Guardians (Manny).**

**Note to EVERYONE: I'm planning on adding extra scenes to the movie, like part of a deleted scene on YouTube, opportunities for the village to see how awesome Hiccup is, etc. Requests? I've got Hiccup telling Toothless about Astrid (thanks ****PhelpstwinsandElftwins!)****, Hiccup freefalling and doing other dangerous stunts, encountering another wild dragon (more dangerous than Terrible Terrors) and making friends with it… **

**CrackedCrow: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you enjoy this chapter. **** And yes, it's the Man in the Moon. I'd forgotten to add that to the disclaimer, so I corrected that when I realized it. I wouldn't want this story to be taken down for forgetting something like that. **

**Random Guest who didn't leave another name to specify who I'm talking to: Ah, thank you! It completely slipped my mind about the dragons, I'll introduce them this chapter. *face-palm* I can't believe I forgot about them...**

**Frostonthewindow: This is the first movie. I do see your point, but you need to remember that besides Hiccup and Toothless, the villagers really have no idea what was happening. Astrid knew a bit, and the others realized that Hiccup was getting better at 'dealing with' the dragons, but they don't know the details. I might end up doing the second movie later on, but I haven't decided yet.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The vikings were startled when the dragons in the village suddenly burst through the door. Most of them flew around energetically before settling down, but Toothless trudged in slowly and reluctantly, worried for his rider.

Astrid looked at the Night Fury sadly, motioning for her own Nadder, Stormfly, to follow her as she went up to Toothless and pat his snout, sitting beside him.

Toothless huffed slightly at her, before curling around her. Stormfly looked slightly disgruntled, but realized that the two of them needed the comfort, so she settled in beside them.

"I apologize; I'd forgotten to let them in." Manny said slowly. "Now that that is taken care of, let the movie begin!"

The villagers and dragons looked on, awed as the screen, which had been on some weird scene with what looked like words in a strange language (i.e. the main menu), suddenly went dark again, before they saw an air-view of Berk.

* * *

_[We pan up and glide across the ocean to see and island surrounded by fog. The moment the island is shown, a boy speaks.]_

**Hiccup: **This is Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death.

Many of the villagers were amused at the description, while others nodded in agreement. They'd certainly felt hopeless sometimes during the dragon raids, and it was certainly cold.

_[We glide through the fog to see two giant Viking statues with fires burning in their mouths.]_

**Hiccup: **It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery.

Stoick, Gobber, Astrid, and Fishlegs flinched, remembering the way they'd all treated Hiccup throughout the years. Of course, the worst offenders, Snotlout and the twins, were unaffected.

_[We go past the statues only to dive through a crashing wave and jump to a closer shot of the island. As we pan in a circular motion, we see several structures, houses, and a sheep farm.]_

**Hiccup: **My village. In a word, sturdy. And it's been here for seven generations, but, every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets.

_[We then land on two sheep grazing in the grass.]_

**Hiccup: **The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have...dragons.

**Hiccup: **Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have, stubbornness issues. My name's Hiccup. Great name, I know. But, it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls. Like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that.

"Yeah, it could be worse. He could've been named Snotlout." Astrid muttered to Toothless, who rumbled in amusement. "Or Fishlegs."

_[Hiccup is seen dodging several Vikings. He trips and a male Viking lands on top of him.]_

**Viking:** ARGGGHHHHH! Mornin'!  
**Hoark**: What are you doing here?!

**Burnthair**: Get inside!

**Viking**: What are you doin' out?

**Phlegma**: Get back inside!

**Stoick**: Hiccup?! What is he doing out aga-?! What are you doing out?! Get inside!

Stoick sighed, angry at himself for treating his own son like that. Hiccup had made mistakes, but he did have a job just like the rest of the teens, and needed to get to the forge to help Gobber, so all he and the others were doing was keeping him from that job.

**Hiccup:** That's Stoick the Vast. Chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off of its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do.

Stoick winced at that. The rumor wasn't true, but he _had _lopped off a few heads in his time, and now that they'd made a tentative peace with the dragons he felt a bit guilty.

**Stoick**  
What have we got?

**Viking #1**: Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks. Oh, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare.

**Stoick:** Any Night Furies?

**Viking #1**: None so far.

**Stoick**: Good.

**Viking**: Hoist the torches!

_[Hiccup runs into a blacksmith shop and puts on an apron]_

The villagers and Toothless (who'd heard stories about the blacksmith from Hiccup) leaned closer, curious to see how the two very different males worked together.

**Gobber**  
Ah! Nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!

**Hiccup**  
What, who me? Nah, come on! I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all...this.

Toothless rolled his eyes fondly at his rider/best friend/brother as he struck a body-builder pose.

**Gobber**  
Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?

**Hiccup: **The meat-head with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber. I've been his apprentice ever since I was little. Well... _littler_.

"He will grow." Manny commented. Snotlout scowled at the reminder that Hiccup would _supposedly_ be taller than he was.

**Stoick**: We move to the moor defenses. We'll counter-attack with the catapults.

_[A dragon swoops down and sets another house on fire.]_

**Hiccup: **See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses.

"Duh!" Snotlout scoffed. Many of the villagers scowled, taking that as an insult to the boy who had saved them, and Astrid punched his arm as hard as she could.

The boy grunted in pain, cradling his arm to his chest protectively.

**Viking**: FIRE!

**Astrid**: Alright, let's go!

**Hiccup: **Oh, and that's Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and... Astrid. Oh, their job is so much cooler.

Astrid blushed at the way Hiccup's voice (thoughts?) said her name, while Ruffnut glanced at her with a teasing smirk. Snotlout, however, scowled. First Hiccup took his attention, then his height, and now the girl he liked…

_[Hiccup leans out of the forge window to get a better look. Gobber lifts him up and back into the shop.]_

**Hiccup**: Oh, come on. Let me out, please? I need to make my mark!

**Gobber**: Oh, you've made _plenty_ of marks. All in the wrong places.

**Hiccup**: Please, two minutes. I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date.

Stoick and the other adults were amused. Not because of the date thing, but 'I'll kill a dragon' was such an understatement. The Red Death was no dragon, it was a monster from Hel…

Astrid, on the other hand, was planning to claim Hiccup before any other girls could get their claws in him. 'A date', indeed…

**Gobber**: You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!

"Yes he can." Gobber corrected himself. "Just not well enough to fight."

_[Gobber holds up a bola and a Viking grabs it and uses it to bring down a dragon]_

**Hiccup**: Okay, fine, but this will throw it for me.

_[Hiccup pats a wooden machine, which opens and shoots a bola randomly, hitting a viking standing in the background.]_

Ruffnut and Tuffnut cheered, while everyone else but Gobber looked at the odd contraption in awe and curiosity.

**Viking**: Arggh!

The viking rubbing his head, grimacing as he remembered that. It had certainly hurt!

**Gobber**: See, now this right here is what I'm talking about!

**Hiccup**: Mild calibration issue—

**Gobber**: Don't you- no- Hiccup. If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all... this.

**Hiccup**: But, you just pointed to _all_ of me!

**Gobber**: Yes! That's it! Stop being, all of you!

"'All of you' seemed to work well enough for him." Tuffnut muttered, surprising the others with the insightful comment, though they had to agree.

**Hiccup**: Ohhhh...

**Gobber**: Ohhhh, yes.

**Hiccup**: You sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw... Viking-ness... contained?! THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!

"Indeed there were." Stoick said dryly.

Changing their entire way of life and ending a war that had been going on for three centuries and killing a gargantuan beast certainly counted as 'consequences', didn't they?

**Gobber**  
I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now.

**Hiccup: **One day, I'll get out there. Because, killing a dragon is _everything_ around here.

_[The camera pans over various dragons as they are described.]_

**Hiccup: **A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed (Stormfly raised her head proudly). Gronckles are tough (Meatlug scratched the side of her head with her leg). Taking down one of those would _definitely_ get me a girlfriend (Astrid bit her lip). A Zippleback (Barf and Belch let out a strange chuckle)? Exotic. Two heads, twice the status.

**Catapult Operator**  
They found the sheep!

**Stoick**  
Concentrate fire over the lower bank!

**Catapult Operator**  
"Fire!"

**Hiccup: **And then, there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire. (Hookfang did so, burning Snotlout, who had been leaning against the dragon).

_[A Monstrous Nightmare growls and alights itself as it climbs up the catapult]_

**Stoick**: Reload! I'll take care of this.

**Hiccup: **But the ultimate prize is the dragon no one has ever seen. We call it the—

**Viking**  
NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!

_[From seemingly out of nowhere, an explosion tears the catapult apart]_

At the same time, Toothless let out a blast of plasma that brought the dying fire in the hall back to life as Astrid scratched his sweet spot (which Hiccup had shown her) and Toothless gurgled happily. Then she did the same for Stormfly, who nudged her with her head.

**Stoick**: JUMP!

**Hiccup: **This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and... never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first.

Many of the villagers sighed in exasperation. Yeah, because Hiccup killing the Night Fury had obviously gone so well…

**Gobber**: Man the fort, Hiccup, they need me out there!

_[He attaches an axe to his arm and begins to run out, but turns around at the doorway]_

**Gobber**: Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean.

**Viking #6**: Hiccup, where are you going?!

"Couldn't stay put for two seconds, could he?" Gobber muttered, crossing his arms.

"You should know better by now." Stoick pointed out. Gobber stuck out his tongue at his friend.

**Viking #7**: Come back here!

**Hiccup**: Yeah, I know! Be right back!

_[Hiccup is seen pushing a cart with the automated catapult on it]_

* * *

"That's the end of the first scene." Manny murmured. "Any questions?"

"Does he have any other cool inventions?!" Ruffnut asked eagerly. Tuffnut grinned at his twin.

"He hasn't actually built very many of them, but yes, he has blueprints." Manny answered. "Though I wouldn't recommend you be allowed anywhere near them."

The twins pouted, ignoring the collective sigh of relief from the rest of the village.

"Anyone else?" Manny asked the room at large.

Stoick glanced at his tribe, taking in their expressions before answering. "Not right now."

"Wait!" Astrid suddenly burst out, eyes wide in horror. "Is there anyone looking after Hiccup?!"

Toothless whined, and Stoick let out a huff, angry at himself yet again. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"Not to worry, I put him in a stasis." Manny reassured. "That means when you are all gone he will stay in the same physical state as when the movie started."

Astrid, Toothless, and the others let out relieved sighs.

* * *

**Please review! :)**


	3. Deleted Scene

**Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or Rise of the Guardians (where I got Manny, aka the Man in the Moon.)**

**I'm going to be honest here, this story is as pretty close to abandoned as it can get without me actually abandoning it. I just lost interest in the HTTYD stories, if not the movie, and don't know what to do with the story.**

**Updates will be few and far between.**

**Though to be fair this was the part I was procrastinating about because I threw in one of the deleted scenes, which I had to write out the dialogue for myself and fit it in with the movie's final script, which was a pain.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**Stoick**__: Mind yourselves! The devils still have some juice in them!_

The dragons grumbled at the insult, causing Stoick to rub the back of his neck sheepishly and apologize.

_[Hiccup sets up his bola catapult on an empty hill and looks around.]_

_**Hiccup**__: Come on. Gimme something to shoot at, gimme something to shoot at._

_[The camera pans around the night sky, and catches on a shadow. Hiccup shoots, and a loud cry is heard as the shadow is seen plummeting down into a forest]_

_**Hiccup (cont.):**__ Oh, I hit it! YES! I HIT IT! Did anybody see that?_

"Good aim!" Gobber cheered, nearly falling off of his chair.

From beside Astrid, Toothless let out a slight huff.

_[A Monstrous Nightmare shows up and crushes Hiccup's bola launcher.]_

_**Hiccup (cont.):**__ Except for you._

"Dude, his luck is…awesome!" Tuffnut cheered.

Everyone except for Ruffnut stared at the male Thornston twin as if he was insane, which of course he was.

His sister cackled along with him.

_[A shrill cry sounds from the hill, and catches Stoick's attention. He turns to see the Monstrous Nightmare chasing Hiccup, and gets up to go help him.]_

_**Stoick:**__ DO NOT let them escape!_

_**Spitelout**__: Right!_

_[Hiccup runs behind a torch pole and hides, just as flames reach around the corner. He looks behind it and on the other side, the Nightmare reaches to get Hiccup. Stoick punches the beast and jumps back to defend himself. The dragon tries to breathe fire, but coughs up a small amount of magma instead.]_

_**Stoick**__: You're all out._

_**Hiccup (v.o.)**__: Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know..._

_**Hiccup:**__ Sorry, Dad._

"Wait, what do we need to know?" Fishlegs asked, confused.

"This movie was made with the presumption that the ones who watched it didn't already know Hiccup and his father, and so didn't know that Hiccup was Stoick the Vast's son." Manny explained, disembodied voice still unnerving the Vikings.

"Oh." Fishlegs blinked thoughtfully. "Interesting."

_**Hiccup (cont.):**__ Okay, but I hit a Night Fury._

_[Stoick grabs Hiccup by the back of his shirt and drags him towards his house.]_

_**Hiccup (cont.):**__ It's not like the last few times, Dad! I mean, I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down, just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, before it—_

_**Stoick:**__STOP!__ Just... stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an __entire__ village to feed!_

Stoick winced, regretting his harsh words.

Hiccup had only been trying to help, and it wasn't _really_ his fault that the Nightmare had targeted after him and destroyed so much.

After all, Stoick had always told him to run and shout for help if he was being chased by a dragon, and the boy had been doing just that.

And then he'd blamed Hiccup because it was more convenient.

Some father he was.

_**Hiccup**__: Between you and me, the village could do with a little __less__ feeding, don't ya think?_

A few people in the crowd shifted self-consciously.

_**Stoick:**__ This isn't a joke, Hiccup! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?_

_**Hiccup:**__ I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just... kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad._

_**Stoick**__: You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house. __[To Gobber]__ Make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up._

"Well, you weren't wrong about that, at least!" Gobber said cheerfully. "I mean, sure, there was the Red Death, but that was more monster from Hel than dragon anyway…"

_**Tuffnut:**__ Quite the performance._

_**Snotlout:**__ I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!_

_**Hiccup**__: Thank you, thank you. I was trying, so..._

* * *

_**Gobber: **__Ah, don't take it to heart, kid. It's his job to be hard on everyone._

_**Hiccup: **__I'm not everyone! But it doesn't matter. The guy is impossible to please._

_Hiccup looked resigned to being an eternal disappointment, absentmindedly moving around Gobber, handing him materials as the older blacksmith pounded away._

_**Gobber: **__He just doesn't want to appear to be playing favorites._

Stoick nodded in agreement.

_**Hiccup:**__ He's covered in that department, believe me. If I didn't live in the same house with him, I wouldn't even know he was my father._

And then his face crumpled in hurt as he realized that that was really how Hiccup saw him.

Had he really been _that_ distant over the years?

_**Gobber:**__ Have you told him that?_

_**Hiccup:**__ Of course not. We barely even make eye contact. And when we do, he's always got this... disappointed scowl. Like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich. __[Imitating Stoick]__**Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms. Extra guts and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fish bone!**_

_Gobber laughed._

But no one in the crowd did.

Stoick buried his head in his large hands with a groan.

He had a lot to make up for.

_**Gobber: **__No, no, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside that he can't stand._

Everyone in the crowd watching the movie, dragons included, gaped at the blacksmith incredulously.

"What?" Gobber wondered.

Seeing that Stoick was still beating himself up, Spitelout took over and hit Gobber upside the head.

_**Hiccup**__[Sarcastically]:__ Thank you for summing that up._

Still, they couldn't help but respect the lad, seeing him recover from such a blunt and rather insensitive statement so quickly.

_**Gobber:**__ No, I mean there's the Viking way and then there's your way. And you're way makes grown men uncomfortable._

There were a few snickers in the crowd at Hiccup's indignant expression.

_**Hiccup:**__ Speaking of uncomfortable, I'd like a new conversation, please._

_**Gobber:**__ Alright. How's it going with the ladies?_

_Hiccup gaped at his master/mentor._

Causing even more laughter.

_**Hiccup:**__ Oh yeah, way to get the mood back on track._

_**Gobber:**__ Come on, I've seen the way you look at Astrid._

The blonde ducked her head sheepishly when everyone smirked at her, some because they had a feeling she liked him, too, considering how invested she'd been in their savior's recovery.

Beside her, or as close as he could get to the girl surrounded by Toothless and Stormfly, Snotlout scowled.

_**Hiccup:**__ Please. Astrid wouldn't come near me if she was on fire and I had the only bucket of water in town._

Snotlout nodded firmly, but Ruffnut punched him in the arm when Astrid glanced at her, nonverbally asking her to do so.

Hey, she was all for hurting someone, excuse or not.

_**Astrid:**__ Hey! Can I get this sharpened?_

_The girl in question appeared in the doorway, causing the two males to jump, but she hadn't heard them._

_**Hiccup (clearly panicking):**__ Astrid! Hi, Astrid. Hello there. Welcome. What can I do…hey._

_Gobber _(and the audience) _snickered at his apprentice's attempts to be cool, glancing at Astrid who was swinging her axe around._

_**Gobber:**__ Uh, my 'manly' apprentice here will service all your needs. I have to…go…get…some…I'm just gonna go outside._

_Hiccup scowled fiercely at the older man as he ran (more like hobbled) out of the forge, before turning to Astrid with a sigh._

_Astrid stared at Hiccup suspiciously._

_**Hiccup (apologetically):**__ Gobber._

_The blonde scoffed, handing him her axe, causing him to nearly double-over at the sudden weight, though he managed to recover._

_**Hiccup: **__Okay. Razer-sharp battle axe, coming right up._

_And with that he went to the other side of the small forge to sharpen it._

_**Astrid:**__ Careful! That's my mother's._

_Hiccup nodded in acknowledgement._

_**Hiccup:**__ So, I saw you guys out on fire patrol last night. Looked like a good time._

_**Astrid:**__ Yeah, I didn't get burned, though. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it._

_Hiccup paused and looked at her skeptically, but didn't comment, instead shaking his head and wondering if he would ever understand how everyone else in this village's minds seemed to work._

_**Hiccup (sarcastically):**__ Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it. Yeah, I would've been out there too, but I was out downing a Night Fury. So, yeah, pretty busy._

Astrid face-palmed. Before she had actually met Toothless, she had thought that Hiccup had just been making up stories to get attention, but now it was obvious that he _downplayed_ things, not the other way around.

One of the many preconceptions about Hiccup she'd been forced to re-evaluate over the last few months.

Lesson number one: he wasn't really the type to be overtly arrogant at something, not like Snotlout.

…Not that he _hadn't_ been flirting with her, in his own adorably awkward way, but still.

_**Astrid:**__ Really? Where—_

_**Hiccup:**__ No, it got away._

_The boy looked genuinely annoyed at that, but since Astrid was turned away from him, looking at the weapons on the wall, she thought that that was just proof that it really was a lie. Realizing that, Hiccup tried (and failed) to save face._

_**Hiccup:**__ But it won't be back anytime soon, believe you me!_

"This coming from the boy who then _snuck it in_." Stoick muttered dryly.

_**Hiccup:**__ Yeah, this apprentice thing is just, you know, my sort of on the side, uh…I'm mostly here to bulk up. Lift some iron and stuff. Become one with the steel…_

_The boy scowled down at his scrawny form, muttering something with a sigh about how he'd develop some muscles someday, dang it._

_His moment of distraction cost him, though. _

_Astrid's axe slipped off the wheel he was sharpening it on, causing a dent, causing his eyes to widen as he hurried to fix it._

"Hiccup!" Astrid groaned, closing her eyes and watching her mother frown, looking down at her axe and study it carefully.

After a moment, the older Hofferson woman shrugged. "Looks fine to me."

And that was that.

_Then he noticed the blonde girl wandering towards Hiccup's little workroom._

_**Hiccup:**__ No, you're not actually supposed to—_

_She opened the curtain anyway, glancing around at the piles of blueprints in slight surprise._

_**Astrid:**__ What is all of this?_

_**Hiccup:**__ Oh, those, nothing. Just some stuff I'm working on…it's just confidential, upper-level development. I can't really talk about it, so…_

The twins were practically salivating as they eagerly took in the designs, already seeing how much damage some of Hiccup's other inventions could cause and desperately wanting to get their hands on one.

Glancing at them warily, Gobber decided to stash Hiccup's papers away until he woke up.

Not _if, _but when.

_He tried to get her out of there, but she resisted._

_**Astrid (reading)**__: "The Mutilator."_

_**Hiccup: **__Yes, yes. Basically it uses twin-weighted counter-levers to launch crisscrossing blades in four different directions._

Tuffnut and Ruffnut cheered.

_He sighed, resigned to his fate and going back to fixing the axe._

_**Astrid:**__ How do you hold it?_

_**Hiccup:**__ Well, you don't. You shoot it._

_**Astrid:**__ Oh, well. I'm kind of an old-fashioned "take it down with an axe and then lop its head off" kind of girl. It's kind of the Viking way, right?_

_Hiccup sighed, remembering his earlier conversation with Gobber._

_**Hiccup:**__ Go Vikings._

Astrid wondered how she possibly could've missed the slight bitterness in Hiccup's voice.

_**Astrid:**__ I can't wait to get started tomorrow. We finally get a chance to show 'em what we've got. I am so excited._

_Hiccup blinked in confusion._

_**Hiccup:**__ Yeah…I'm…so excited…for you?_

_Realizing that he had no idea what she was talking about, the blonde turned to him._

_**Astrid:**__ What, you didn't hear?_

_Hiccup shrugged at her._

_**Astrid: **__They're pulling men to crew the ships._

_**Hiccup:**__ And you're happy because…you…like to wave goodbye?_

Snotlout and Tuffnut snickered.

_**Astrid (scoffed):**__ No, stupid. They need replacements to defend the town. We start training in the morning! We'll be fighting dragons!_

_**Snotlout:**__ Astrid!_

_Astrid and Hiccup turned to see the other teens outside the forge._

_**Snotlout (cont.):**__ You coming to practice, or what?_

_Astrid held out her hand expectantly towards Hiccup, who handed her the axe with a little difficulty._

_**Astrid:**__ This feels different._

_Hiccup bit his lip, remembering that smoothing out the dent he'd caused earlier would be noticeable to someone who'd wielded the weapon before._

_**Hiccup:**__ Oh! I rebalanced it…tightened it up…finessed it. We're a full service outfit in here. _

_**Astrid: **__Huh. Thanks._

_**Hiccup:**__ Sure._

_With that, Astrid turned and left, the other teens going with her._

_**Tuffnut: **__Oh, I hope I get some serious scars out of this!_

_**Astrid:**__ I know, like a jagged on right across your cheek._

_**Snotlout:**__ Yeah, or through my eye!_

_Hiccup felt his own face, wondering why the others would _want_ to be maimed, before shrugging it off and turning back to his work._

_A few moments later Gobber wandered back into the forge._

_Hiccup, seeing Gobber about to comment, went back to their initial conversation about the Night Fury and his father._

_He'd rather not talk about that, either, after the humiliating dressing down he got from his father, but knew that Gobber would only let himself be distracted from the Astrid thing with the more serious and long-lasting problems between Hiccup and his dad. _

_**Hiccup (cont.):**__ I really did hit one._

_**Gobber**__: Sure, Hiccup._

_**Hiccup**__: He never listens._

_**Gobber**__: Well, it runs in the family._

_Hiccup sighed._

_**Hiccup**__: I just want to be one of you guys._

_And with that he left._

The Vikings looked pained at the reminder that they'd all made Hiccup feel unwelcome in his own village, the one he might very well lead someday.

* * *

**Please review!**

**Meh, I'm nowhere near satisfied with this. I've totally lost interest in this (not HTTYD as a whole, just this story), but I figured I owed you guys.**

**Okay, the deleted scene part is mostly lacking in the action descriptions because there's no transcript for it. Also, I did change it a bit, making Hiccup slightly less clumsy by having him fix the mistake he made instead of changing the…axe head, I think is the term.**


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